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Fire Discipline
Summary "Bernadette Le Tigre De La Rivière displays her skills with the Rafale in this issue. Tigre flies, BETA die! " Fire Discipline is a short story included as part of TSFiA, article #28. It numbers #8 in the Euro Front TSFiA series. In a world of pure white, an angel of death danced. The land was a brilliant, solid white as far as the eye could see, and the air shimmered high in the distance. Crystals blown into the air sparkled like diamond dust, and each little ray of sunlight diffused into the air was slightly piercing to one’s vision. It was just like a dance on ice, and was a scene that could be called fantastical. However, dancing along in this hazy air was a sword of steel made for total extermination, scattering grotesque dark-brown body fluids onto the hard, silvery surface. For it was not white snow that blanketed the land, but a field of salt, said to be a gravestone marking humanity’s defeats. “2nd Flight, all units spread out! Get on it!” “Understood!” Accompanying the fighting spirit that flowed from the yells of the pilots, numerous sharp-angled craft dispersed wildly over the salt fields. The fumes from salt blown away by fire from Assault Cannons and of BETA flesh mixed into the winds, and the burning and dissolving of crystals each time the flame of Jump Units grazed the ground caused ugly ruts to form. However, staining the silver world without losing its own brilliance, with a freely-dancing form like that of a gale; a being worthy of the name of Rafale. July 16, 2000. 5 months ago, the French Army 13th TSF Dragoon Regiment in the German-French combined brigade once again deployed in a joint culling operation to northern HollandA popular misnomer, referring to the Netherlands., the main battleground being the outskirts of what was formerly Amsterdam. The name of that white world was the Zuiderzee salt fieldsThe Zuiderzee was an inlet of the North Sea, now a freshwater lake, and a region with many notable land reclamation/construction efforts. In the Unlimited/Alternative universe post-1990s, this inlet/lake no longer exists due to climate change caused by the BETA invasion of Europe.. It was once covered with seawater during the evacuation of Holland 17 years ago, but now the land had been fully reclaimed with no traces of water left, with only a surface of salt sand left behind, a land of death spread out across all directions. Just like how the delaying action executed in Holland played an important role in the defence of European shores, the culling operations on this ground dealt directly with the defence of the United Kingdom mainland, the last bastion of Europe. As Holland was sure to be the entrance to the English Channel, the "Atlantic Wall", an absolute defence line of great length beginning from northeast of Germany, the Jutland peninsula, to southwest France, at the Bretagne peninsula, was formed as a strategic defence location. “Get lost, and rot away!” Dancing wildly in the bewitching lights, defying the ease of how easily spatial awareness could be lost to it, 2nd Bernadette Riviere repeated her inertia- and gravity-defying maneuvers. The 13th TSF Dragoon RegimentHistorically, a "dragoon"-designated unit referred to a type of mounted infantry. Some military units retain this prefix in modern times; they are typically those that were formed when the term "dragoon" was still used in its original form., 131st TSF Battalion, which had won their fame during the defence of France, were now fully outfitted with a state-of-the-art TSF, the Rafale, and Bernadette had already solidified her position as a daring Storm Vanguard. You’re a thousand years too early to try to escape me...! She freely directed the 4 FWS-G1 Assault Cannons on both its arms and back pylons, turning the BETA into salted mincemeat. As a Storm Vanguard of a frontline nation, her combat style was a rare one that did not utilize a Melee Halberd; it was closer to that of the mobile gunners of the US Forces pilots. “Well aren’t you in perfect form, Lorraine 4! That title of “Four Guns” is just going to keep getting greater, isn’t it?” “That goes without saying, Lorraine 5! As a great saying goes, the gun is stronger than the blade!” Despite the lax display of humor with her wingman, she continued her accurate firing even while maneuvering in close-combat. At times, all guns converged at point-black range to bring down one of the larger species; other times, those four arms flexed to their maximum range to inflict multi-directional surface suppression. In mid-jump, 120mm APFSDSArmor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot, a gun round type. rounds mangled a Destroyer’s legs; on landing, 36mm focused to tear off the head of a Grappler. The only deviation was that sometimes, trailing Tank-class would be hit by the Blade Vanes mounted on both arms; like how a rifle butt could be used to strike the enemy, this was consistently incorporated as a part of her shooting technique. With enough skills to make sure the rounds go where they should, there’s no reason to lose to the continuous fighting capability of a longsword...! While concern over wasted rounds was held to be necessary, the impact of a Melee Halberd exerted a far greater burden on the airframe than the recoil from gunfire. And even if the frontline could be resupplied with ammunition, there was no choice but to retreat or die after crossing the endurance limit of the joint segments; that was the opinion she ardently held. Despite the family motto of “a single sword strike” that was engraved into her heart, her reason for her love for the assault cannon, including her dogged adherence to rational judgement, was that reason. “Lorraine 4, changing magazines!” “Lorraine 5; roger, providing cover!” Even while her wingman followed up as she changed magazines, there was no excesses in her movement. The two on-pylon Assault Cannons immediately laid down several 120mm canister rounds in a fan-shaped firing arc, while she used short jumps to move to backwards. Good, the distance and timing are in sync... Earning for herself a small interval for the magazine change, with a temporary retreat by obtaining small-scale area control, there was no momentary weak spot that would have arose as proclaimed by those who favored the Falcate Sword, even if it were a lone unit. With unbridled dispersal of shots, accurate understanding of the surroundings, and precise control of the airframe, the annihilation of the enemy would be a certainty. Especially with the wide field of vision that Lieutenant Bernadette had, which resulted in unparalleled accuracy in control technique. She held absolute confidence in her own gunslinging. “Lorraine 2 to all 2nd Flight units, support the combined 1st and 3rd Flights! Proceed!” “Lorraine 4, roger! Today’s an easy one!” “Lorraine 5, roger!” “Lorraine 6 roger, looks like Berna’s earnings are safe now!” The food ticket that 3rd Flight, the detachment that was currently in fierce combat, would have earned, was snatched away; they had betted on kill counts with the synthetic nougats that were only distributed under special conditions. Under the orders of 2nd Flight’s commander, and with dreams of the short resting time after the return to base, the white silhouettes of Rafales once again ripped into the salt plains with all speed. “CP to 2nd Flight, is it alright to take it so easily? German forces have already agreed to the support request; the Zerberus are going to open fire, so watch out for stray rounds.” “Lorraine 2, roger. Goodness, why are the KrautsKraut, in this instance, is an ethnic slur used to refer to Germans. poking their noses here!?” The resentment-filled voice of 2nd Flight’s commander was unintentionally transmitted on the open channel, to the contested 3rd Flight. “... Lorraine 3 to Lorraine 2, my bad, I think it’ll take a little longer than expected on this end. You’re just in time for the Zerberus to jump on this place-” “Lorraine 4 to Lorraine 3, requesting permission to waste you in cards when we return!” “A good attitude for a fellow officer, Lorraine 4, and feel free to do all that; however, right now there’s the BETA in front. Let’s snatch them from the dogs of Britain!” “Understood!” With that brief chatter feeding their fighting spirits, Bernadette readied her unit’s Assault Cannons while preparing a boosted jump. But, the next moment, the high-pitched scream of flight burst out from the external sound monitors, and the burning incandescence of tracer rounds crossed her vision. “Zerberus Battalion 2nd Squadron Leader to Lorraine Squadron of the French Army, support fire is now commencing. You may proceed with combat as it is.” “Lorraine 1 to Rot 1, thanks for the support.” Hm… pretty fast, and a good display. Like Berdanette and the rest of 2nd Flight, the Zerberus Battalion 2nd Squadron Rot were in mid-approach; however, their Gun Sweepers had already proceeded to commence the attack. She glanced at the on-screen combat zone markers; on it was a familiar name that instinctively made the corners of Bernadette’s mouth curl. Rot 12, Ilfreide Feulner... oh, you’re finally starting to look the part of the task. The 57mm loosed by Rot Squadron impacted in front of 3rd Flight with a powerful reverberation. Precise marksmanship that did not fear close-in battle. As Bernadette made gun battles the core of her fighting, there was no way she could set that strength aside with just a glance. “Fine then, Ilfreide, in a short while I’ll show you a reward; that is, how frontline gunnery troops fight!” With those words aimed at herself, 2nd Lieutenant Bernadette Riviere took hold of the control sticks the same way one would grip a gun. Her mouth curving in a carnivore’s smile, she geared up to kick off a storm on the firing line once more... Footnotes Category:TSFIA